Drones ‘change everything’ about combined arms combat, US Army aviation chief says

[rangerrebew]

Drones ‘change everything’ about combined arms combat, US Army aviation chief says
By Zita Ballinger Fletcher
 Feb 20, 2026, 06:03 PM
 
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Drones are profoundly changing the Army’s approach to aviation and combined arms training, Maj. Gen. Clair A. Gill, commanding general of the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence, told Military Times in an interview.

During the Army’s first annual Best Drone Warfighter Competition in Huntsville, Alabama, the Fort Rucker-based aviation chief shared his insights about the impact of drones on military doctrine.


“The application of drone technology is only limited by your creativity,” he said. “It’s this constantly evolving game of technology and craftsmanship to create the desired effect that you want on the other end.”

While Army aviators are no strangers to unmanned systems, drones being fielded today are immensely different from those developed over the last two decades, many of which tended to be larger and required more manpower to operate, Gill said.

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2026/02/20/drones-change-everything-about-combined-arms-combat-us-army-aviation-chief-says/

[Free Vulcan]

I wish they'd get creative again and restart using them against Russia's oil infrastructure.

It was starting to make a dent, what happened?

[IsailedawayfromFR]

1. No lives lost by being manned
2. Operators are way out of harms way in another country
3. Cheap
4. Extremely sophisticated.(Just watch a drone show at night sometime)

In spite of all of these, IMO the chief reason they are more effective is that literally swarms of them (think in terms of tens of thousands) can be launched simultaneously which is really tough to defend against.

Because of this last point, I fervently hope that the military devotes as much time and money into anti-drone technology as for the drones themselves to defend ourselves sufficiently from what may be launched at us by enemies.  One does not have to be a superpower to use drones so terrorism is heightened exponentially.

[BobfromWB]

1. No lives lost by being manned
2. Operators are way out of harms way in another country
3. Cheap
4. Extremely sophisticated.(Just watch a drone show at night sometime)

On the modern battlefield, remote only works so far - mostly because of the intense electronic warfare drone operators have to be fairly lose to the front. Satellite signals get jammed a lot. Drone units are regularity targeted by their enemies and are often wiped out.

The US military is still way way behind in making and stockpiling FPV drones, let alone fiber optical cable guided ones. Most drones in the Ukraine war are optically guided because of EW, meaning they have to be within 100km for the newest fiber guided drones. Fiber cables are thing like light fishing line, thin enough for birds to make nests with them.

Battlefield drones are nothing like a night time drone show. They are not illuminated and hunt with IR video, killing with grenades and light mortar rounds. That, while still other drones overwatch the line of contact to verify kills.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

On the modern battlefield, remote only works so far - mostly because of the intense electronic warfare drone operators have to be fairly lose to the front. Satellite signals get jammed a lot. Drone units are regularity targeted by their enemies and are often wiped out.

The US military is still way way behind in making and stockpiling FPV drones, let alone fiber optical cable guided ones. Most drones in the Ukraine war are optically guided because of EW, meaning they have to be within 100km for the newest fiber guided drones. Fiber cables are thing like light fishing line, thin enough for birds to make nests with them.

Battlefield drones are nothing like a night time drone show. They are not illuminated and hunt with IR video, killing with grenades and light mortar rounds. That, while still other drones overwatch the line of contact to verify kills.

Thanks for the info.

All pointing toward and intensity for our military to deploy the latest and greatest technology in drone utilization, communication, manipulation and counter-measures.

[BobfromWB]

Thanks for the info.

All pointing toward and intensity for our military to deploy the latest and greatest technology in drone utilization, communication, manipulation and counter-measures.

NATO and US forces lost to the Ukrainians real world battle experience with drones. The US is stuck in doctrine that is not going to be revised any time soon.

US drone forces are several or more generations behind both Ukraine and Russia in drone warfare.